Comments

This issue is on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting of Friends of the ABC 6th October

agreed. A myopic decision made by people who'd never slept beyond the shadow of a Telstra tower.

Thanks John for raising this important issue. There are many radio stations owned and run by PNG firms but they don't cover wide and important news items like Radio Australia did. Like many other Papua New Guineans did, I used to tune in and enjoy wide variety of detailed both local and international news that are very relevant to the country. It is very regretful to lose this vital radio service. Australia must work to restore this broadcast.

Thanks Wes. I don't doubt there's concern in the region about Australia's (crazy) plans to subsidise coal. That said, discussion at the Forum meeting seems to have been managed in such a way as to avoid conflict around such issues. Interesting, right?

Thanks for your interest in the book John. The e-book is available through Amazon, which is the cheapest I can find: https://www.amazon.com.au/Anti-Corruption-its-Discontents-International-Perspectives-ebook/dp/B074JBX8DR The hard copy is available through the publisher (20%discount code: FLR40): https://www.routledge.com/Anti-Corruption-and-its-Discontents-Local-National-and-International/Walton/p/book/9781138698024 I'm also exploring options to distribute it through a PNG publisher, but that might take some time. Best Grant

Thanks for the update, Jo. That is very curious.

Over the past five days, New Zealand First has amended its foreign affairs policy online. Now no mention of aid or the Pacific. (See <a href="http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/foreign_affairs_and_trade" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here</a>). Perplexing.

Hi Stephen, Thanks for your comment. Stronger parties are probably a necessary condition for programmatic politics (it is hard to see how political collective action problems will be overcome without them). However, they aren't, on their own, a sufficient condition. Many countries with stronger parties than PNG (think Latin America) still have clientelist politics. A particular type of political party is required to shift away from clientelist politics: one that is (at least somewhat) national in scope and also born of reforming social movements. With respect to the quality of elections. There are two major causes of national level electoral issues. 1. Active attempts to capture the system nationally (think Malaysia) 2. Neglect (think PNG). In a country as ethnically fragmented as PNG, it is very hard for national capture to occur. As a consequence, what we typically see is neglect as politicians in a clientelist polity focus either on winning support through patronage spending or through cheating at a local level. (It is possible there were some attempts at actively undermining national electoral infrastructure in 2017 to make localised cheating easier. But the situation, while worrying, still wasn't analogous to Malaysia). Some of the cross-country empirical work on electoral quality finds an association between independent electoral bodies and better quality elections. (There is a lot of debate on this though.) I think a well-resourced and de facto independent electoral commission would help with electoral quality in PNG (the PNGEC is already de jure independent; this doesn't seem to have helped it). The question, however, is why doesn't PNG have a strong independent electoral commission already? The answer to that is, I think, the political dynamic I describe in my post. Should donors and domestic civil society organisations push for a better-functioning, better resourced electoral commission? Sure. I say as much in the other two posts. But the electoral commission's problems didn't emerge from a vacuum. Nor can a better electoral commission be magicked into existence independent of the traits of PNG's broader political economy. Thanks for your comment. Terence

Hi Terence, Many thanks for a great series of blogs on PNG's elections. I'm not sure you're right to lay PNG's electoral ailments at the door of patronage politics. It is no doubt true that "Most of Papua New Guinea’s members of parliament don’t care how well elections are run." But is this because "most voters vote for the candidate who they think is most likely to help them, their family, or their community"? We can think of other countries that have stronger parties and national policy debates, and yet unfair elections. Think of Malaysia, and think of aspects of US elections. There is also at least one country I know of that is typified by patronage politics, but that has pretty good elections, and that is India. The primary motive for politicians when it comes to elections is to win them, and if they can get away with manipulating the process to improve their chances, they will. A counterveiling force is required for good elections. Based on my admittedly limited knowledge, having a strong and independent electoral commission seems really important for good electoral quality. Why is it that some countries have very strong and independent electoral commissions (Australia, India), and other countries don't (Malaysia, India)? I don't know if there is an answer to that question. Perhaps it comes down to difficult-to-generalize differences in constitutions, traditions, and personalities. But until PNG's Electoral Commission shows greater strength and independence -- that is, more willingness to stand up against the politicians -- I am skeptical that we will see improvements in the quality of PNG's elections. Stephen.

Looking forward to seeing your reports from the Forum leaders' meeting next year, I might even tag along!

Hi Paul, Thanks for your comment. I don't think we're debating a totally unbelievable dream. I agree there are many problems, but there are also many, many people within PNG who would like positive change, and many trying to bring it. Recall that there was a time that politics in most OECD countries was heavily clientelist and very corrupt. Change is possible, I think. I also think incremental improvements are useful, that's how most change occurs. Systems work or fail to varying degrees. Indeed, electoral issues varied by degree around PNG in the last election. If PNG's elections are to improve it will be slowly over time. That said, I agree with you a good roll is a sina qua non for electoral quality. I also agree that the absence of good census data (as well as HIES and DHS data) is a real issue for just about everything. Data are a problem in most parts of the Pacific. Questions need to be asked about why this remains an ongoing issue region-wide. With respect to your question about who should do the pushing for better election: I think most will have to come from within. I think that's the source of almost all transformation. As I said above, while I share your appreciation of the problems, I am also impressed by the commitment to positive change within PNG. Like you, I think Australia has a role to play, although I don't think it will be the main driver. Like you, I wish Australia's politicians were performing better in this area though. My broader comments on what I think Australia should do are <a href="https://devpolicy.org/what-can-australia-help-with-elections-png-20170915/">here</a>. Terence

Looking forward to lodging my journalist visa application for next year. 🙂